DESIGNER GARDEN WINDOW BOX & CARD - BONUS PROJECT AT CRAFT PROJECT CENTRAL

Make a lovely flower garden window box to brighten up your space with fun patterned flowers that will last! No need to water! These bright and fun blossoms will never wilt. You could also gift this bunch of flowers to someone special with the matching card. Don’t need a window box? The flowers would still make a lovely bouquet in a vase for the perfect gift!

This is such a strikingly pretty ensemble!  It was designed by Amanda and is the BONUS project this month at Craft Project Central.  Qualifying for the bonus tutorial is easy . . . just subscribe to two or more months in a row, put the Craft Project Central badge on your blog, or refer a friend to the site.  When your friend subscribes, just let us know!

3x3 CARD HOLDER - TUTORIAL

Way back in November 2006, I shared this 3x3 note card holder showing an alternative way to use the die-cut box from Stampin' Up!'s Fancy Favor Box XL die.  Through the years, I have had a lot of requests for a pattern and/or instructional information; however, I have been unable to locate it.  Of course, having changed computers a few times in the past nine years hasn't been helpful in locating any type of information about this project.  As a matter of fact, I haven't even been able to locate the actual project!  After giving it some thought, I decided to use the die to cut a box and back my way into the altered box, which I did, but I created a step-by-step photo tutorial showing how to make a similar card holder without the die since it's no longer offered by Stampin' Up.  Here goes!

Cut your designer paper or card stock at 5-1/4" x 11-1/2".  Score it horizontally at 1, 4-1/4, 6-1/4, and 9-1/2 inches; score vertically at 2". Cut between the scored 2" sections, and remove the 1" x 2" portion on the end.

Use a pencil and ruler to mark the paper for cutting the slanted opening, working on the opposite end of the 1" flap.  Make a pencil mark at the center (1") at the top of both of the 2" scored sections.  Now this gets tricky to explain . . . my ruler in the photo is measuring 1" up from the bottom flaps, and my pencil is pointing to the mark that I have made on the scored line.  You want to make a pencil mark on both of the scored lines of that 3-1/4" panel that is 1" up from the bottom flaps.  Clear as mud?  The next photo will make more sense of this.

With the pencil and ruler, connect all of the pencil points, and then use scissors to cut out that section.

Your paper should now look like the one in the photo above.

It's time to assemble the box.  Fold on all of the scored lines, and then fold that 3-1/4" flap upward as shown in the photo since it will be the last flap that you adhere to complete the closure of the box bottom.

Place adhesive on the 1" x 3-1/4" flap, and then fold the other end of the paper onto it.

You'll notice that the flap that I folded up earlier is still folded upward.  It needs to be the last one that you adhere so the box front will have a pretty finished edge.  Now . . . I began closing the bottom of the box (card holder) with the two small flaps, but I later decided that I should have brought that bottom flap up first so that the two small flaps would be sandwiched between the two long ones so that the inside bottom of the card holder would look better.  However you decide to close yours will be okay because you can always cover the inside bottom with a piece of card stock, which will add more stability anyway.

And finally . . . the finished card holder, still naked and empty, but ready to be decorated and filled.  I hope this tutorial is helpful to you, especially those who have (through the years) asked for it.

"VENETIAN ROMANCE" GIFT SET

A perfect gift for a special person.  Never forget a birthday or anniversary again!!  This Card Reminder Box will help you keep track of all those important dates that you want to remember.  Just fill in the calendar pages with dates and drop the cards for the event behind!  When it’s time to send a card, it’s ready for you!

Such a handy gift, indeed!  This pretty ensemble was designed by Sharon, and her tutorial can be found at Craft Project Central.

PATRIOTIC "MAKE-IT-SNAPPY-MONDAY" CARD

Yesterday, I was excited to create something patriotic for today's MISM project since it's Memorial Day, and I gladly dug out Stampin' Up!'s retired Godspeed stamp set.  Even though Memorial Day is a day to honor the men and women who have died while serving, I still wanted to use these two images for my card.  The soldier writing a letter to his family is one of my favorites, but it's not one that I often have the need/occasion to use.

Other Stampin' Up! products featured on this card include Soft Suede, Cherry Cobbler, Midnight Muse, and Naturals Ivory card stock, Hello Honey ribbon, linen thread, and Neutrals Candy Dots.

And I'll leave you with an excerpt from Kelly Strong's "Freedom Isn't Free" poem:

I heard the sound of TAPS one night,
When everything was still
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That TAPS had meant "Amen,"
When a flag had draped a coffin
Of a brother or a friend.
I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.
I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free.

BLENDABILITIES & "GROUNDING" THOSE LOVELY "VIVID VASES"

Yes, I'm still coloring with Stampin' Up!'s Blendabilities alcohol markers.  I truly don't mean to come across as conceited, but I love how colorful this card turned out, the shading is to my liking, and I think the mix of colors definitely does wonders for that pretty Vivid Vases image.  They're quite vivid, don't you think?  What's new (for me) is to use the Blendabilities markers to "ground" the stamped and colored image which, IMHO, is a real enhancement to the finished project.  There's just something about giving those pretty vases somewhere to sit, plus grounding an image presents the opportunity to introduce yet another area of color to the project.  Personally, I love it.  Now, it's highly possible that my next grounding experiment will turn out horrible, so I can't say just yet that I will frequently apply this technique.  Other Stampin' Up! products featured on this card include Coastal Cabana card stock and thick twine, Ovals Collection Framelits, Tangelo Twist card stock, Tiny Wave rotary cutting blade (even though you can't see the pretty cut edge on the Blackberry Bliss card stock), and you probably can't tell that I used Blackberry Bliss card stock because it looks black in the photo.  :-( 

PATRIOTIC CARD SET WITH WINDOW BOX

This set of patriotic notecards is great for Memorial Day, Fourth of July, or celebrating the heroes in our armed forces any day. It includes eight cards with matching lined envelopes and a coordinated box with a window and themed gift tag.

This festive ensemble was designed by the talented Yapha Mason, and you can find her tutorial at Craft Project Central.

NEW BLENDABILITIES, OLD STAMPS, AND A TOUCH OF ADD

Yesterday was a busy, busy cleaning day.  Actually, it was more of a picking up and clearing out day and, while I was swapping the winter bedding for something light, I discovered about 25 retired stamp sets stacked neatly in a chair.  By the way, when I went into the bedroom, I wasn't there to begin the long process of rearranging clothes (winter clothes swapping places with summer clothes), changing bedding, dusting, vacuuming, etc.  I had gone in there to put on a cooler shirt, but I couldn't reach it with the summer clothes at the back of the closet and a blocked path.  As I carried some of the stamp sets to the stamp room, I said to Chad, "Look what I found!"  I told him that I had actually begun the process of cleaning up the stamp room but got side-tracked when I went to the bedroom for a cooler shirt, and he looked at me like I was crazy and said, "And yet you still have on the long sleeves."  Obviously, I needed some kind of pill yesterday, but I was on a roll (or perhaps a loopy rollercoaster).  Anyway, the stamp sets had become a fixture in my bedroom.  I have no idea why they were in there, but anything that stays in one place for too long in this house is what we call a fixture--something that is clearly out of place, within sight, and yet forgotten.  After my work was done, I was itching to play with the Stampin' Blendabilities Markers and, of course, the retired stamp sets that were suddenly like new ones.  The tulip image is from Nice & Easy Notes, and the sentiment is from Swirls & Curls Verses.  Just look at how smoothly those markers colored the image!  I. l♥ve. them.

Other Stampin' Up! products featured on this card include Blackberry Bliss and Hello Honey ribbon, Tiny Wave rotary blade, Ovals Collection Framelits, and So Saffron, Mossy Meadow, Blackberry Bliss, and Whisper White card stock.  To round the two corners, I used the new Project Life Corner Rounder punch, and it worked like a dream through both layers of card stock--loved that!

MY CLEVER MOTHER'S DAY CARD

Yes, I know that Mother's Day has come and gone, but I wanted to share the clever card that my son made for me.  My guys always find the neatest cards with fun folds or something interactive, but I told them that I wanted them to get in the stamp room and make my Mother's Day card this year. My husband cleverly took a card from the project display area (a card that I had made) and added ribbon--in a non-permanent way--that had his written sentiment. ;-) My son, on the other hand, looked through the stamp sets and chose (from the very bottom shelf) Stampin' Up!'s retired Set Sail and one of my most-used and loved card stock colors, Soft Sky.  Early Espresso ink was already out (because I use it oh, so often), so that's what he used to stamp the front of the oversized card.  The really clever part of his design was on the inside:

He used the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set to stamp the sentiments in calendar order, checking off the ones that had already passed and circling the Mother's Day sentiment.  On the left side of the card, his note read, "Re-use this card for all remaining events."  I love it, and I really appreciated that he not only made a card, but he put thought into it as well. This would be a perfect card for a man to give during the course of a year, but he would have to remember to retrieve the card after each calendar event so he'll be ready for the next one. 

"SWALLOWTAIL" DREAM PILLOW SET

This Swallowtail Dream Pillow Set is a fun way to use your stamps on velvet!  This set features a velvet dream pillow with a coordinating tag and matching gift card.  What a wonderful gift for a special friend!

Isn't this a gorgeous gift idea?  Michelle Wecksler designed this project for Craft Project Central, which is where you will find her step-by-step instructions.  Did you know that it's not too late to subscribe to this month's awesome Craft Project Central tutorials?  When you subscribe, you have until April 2015 to access this month's tutorials!

SURPRISE BOX

A “Surprise Box” is a fun way to cheer up anyone who is having a rough day, to entertain the kiddos if they’re having a “sick day” and are tired of being in bed, or to keep them entertained during a long car trip.  It’s easy to change the contents, so you can use the box over and over.  Each time it’s opened will be a new adventure.

I can't imagine that anything has been left out of this project!  The designer, Buffy Cooper, seems to have thought of everything, and you can find her complete tutorial at Craft Project Central.